A study of teenage parenthood : AFDC recipients in Hamilton County, Tennessee

The aim of this study was to better understand the needs of AFDC recipient single teenage mothers in their environment by determining (a) what tangible and intangible services these teenage mothers felt they needed, (b) their awareness of and use of community services, (c) the context in which they found social service delivery acceptable, and (d) their aspirations, both before and subsequent to pregnancy. Survey research in the form of an interview schedule was administered by individual interviewers to thirty-five AFDC recipients, who were randomly selected from a Tennessee Department of Human Services Computer Listing of teenage single mothers in the Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, area. The interview schedule primarily consisted of closed-ended questions. A number of the questions allowed for amplification on an open-ended basis. The thirty-five subjects selected volunteered to participate in the study.

The results of this study revealed several strengths of the teenage mothers, including their extended family support system, friendship networks, continued attendance in school, knowledge of community resources, early use of prenatal care and continued utilization of health care resources for themselves and their children. The majority of the teenage mothers who used formal agency resources found the context of social service delivery acceptable and offered few suggestions for improvement. Most young mothers did not perceive themselves as having a need if that need was being met. Seventy-seven percent of the teenage mothers identified family planning as the service they felt could be most beneficial to them in delaying or preventing another pregnancy.

Additional research should focus on teenage mothers' self-reports of their use of tangible and intangible services, availability and utilization of resources, context of service delivery acceptable to them and self-reports of their aspirations before and subsequent to pregnancy. In summary, there continues to be a need for expanded sex education classes in the school system and comprehensive social services programs related to teenage pregnancy and parenthood. Programs should be developed in the formal services network that support the contributions of the extended family members in meeting the needs of teenage parents and helping them delay or postpone early childbearing during the teenage years.